Improvement in buckles



C. W. HIGI NBOTOM & F. F. SMITH.

BUCKLE. NQ'.18Z,9Z7. Patented 0ct.3,1876.

WITNESSES: INVENTUB I ATTORNEYS N. PETERS, FHDTO LITNDGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D Q

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

OHARLES W. HIGINBOTOM AND FREDERICK F. SMITH, OF VANDALIA, ILL.

IMPROVEMENT IN BUCKLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 182,927, dated October 3, 1876; application filed August 29, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, CHARLES W. HIGIN- BOTOM and FREDERICK F. SMiTE, of Vandalia, in the county of Fayette and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Buckles; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Our invention is an improvement in that class of buckles in which the tongue is made detachable and entirely separate from the frame, as illustrated in the buckle for which we received Letters Patent No.154,673. The tongue of our improved buckle is provided with a rib or lug in the center, and with claws or points on its ends, which pass through holes in the strap or straps to which the buckle is applied. When the tongue is adjusted in place the rib or lug prevents displacement of the end of the strap, and aids the claws in sustaining the strain to which the strap is subjected.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan view of our invention. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section through the center, showing the manner of coupling two straps. Fig. 3 is a side view of the detachable double tongueplate.

A represents the rectangular frame of the buckle, andB the detachable tongue or tongueplate. The latter consists of a straight or slightly curved bar, provided at its middle with a nib or lug, a, and at its ends with the claws, projections, or points b, which, when the buckle is applied to the straps G, enter and project up through the holes in the same. One of the functions of the nib or lug a is to hold the end of the strap in place-that is to say, parallel with the side bars of the frame A-and which obviates the necessity in other buckles of this class of passing both claws b b through the strap end. Another function of the nib is to supplement that of the claws b, and sustain part of the strain to which they would otherwise be subjected. One of the claws, b, may also be made shorter than the other since it is seldom or never required to pass through two thicknesses of leather.

Our improved buckle has therefore a triple hearing, or three points for sustaining tensible strain, namely, the nib or lug a and the two claws b b.

In using the buckle a strap, 0, is placed upon the tongue-plate, the latter having been detached from the frame A, and the nib a and the longer of the points b is forced through holes therein. If it is required to connect two straps, as in Fig. 2, the points b are both inserted through holes in the upper one. One end of the joined straps is then drawn through the frame A, so that one of the points b catches against the end bar. The other end of the strap is then drawn through the frame, so that the other point b catches against the opposite end bar of the frame. In detaching the tongue the shoulder 01 is forced up through the frame.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new is The combination of frame A and detachable tongue-plate B, having the central nib or lug a and the claws or points b, substantially as shown and described, for the purpose specified.

CHARLES W. HIGINBOTOM. FREDERICK F. SMITH.

Witnesses:

Guns. H. HARBER, CHARLES E. CAPPS. 

